Big trara in the « Woodstock of Blasmusik »

It is at the end of June 2024, and the hottest day of the year so far leans towards its end. For the crowd a welcome occasion to take a bath in cool anteses. But there is hardly any space to be found in the river bed. Slightly dressed people stand up to their knees in the water. Others took a seat on camping chairs, which they placed in the water in the water, which flows a few kilometers further north in the Inn.

To do this, others skillfully elicit the tones – whether tuba, trumpet, trombone, pelvis or bass drum. Welcome to the « Woodstock of Brass Music », an exuberant festival that has helped the entire genre to make an unexpected Renaissance.

For the first time it was held in 2011, just a few kilometers south of the German border. As festival founder Simon Ertl reports, he wanted to help the music of his childhood and adolescence as a concert trumpeter, which has now been studied. The 44-year-old says: « Back then, brass music threatened to disappear from public perception. Hardly anyone took it seriously. The idea was to make it hip and socially acceptable again. »

Ertl has shot far beyond the target. If the early days with 5,000 visitors were still an intimate homage to Alpine folk music, the Woodstock of Blasmusik now lives up to its ambitious name. Around 100,000 visitors gathered in the inconspicuous municipality in the Innkreis in 2024 to celebrate the different varieties of brass music. But also to celebrate an exuberant festival.

In the early afternoon of the second of four festival days, the beer also flows freely. A few hours later, the Romanian formation Fanfare Ciocărlia can be found on the main stage. With a fast -paced Balkans Brass, according to the originally Serbian music direction, the appearance of the twelve -member ensemble comes to a first musical highlight. But even though it is crowded before the podium, not every visitor is interested in the show for a long time. The large area simply offers too much distraction.

There are about six other stages, some of which are in questioned tents. Here musicians present the growing variety of brass music interpretations. The Weiß’ngroana, for example, represent the adjacent Free State of Bavaria in stylish costumes with a rather classic interpretation. The Boss Hoss, on the other hand, comes into contact with sheet music as a headliner of the following evening.

Regardless of the musical diversity, a group of German visitors is enjoying itself on a kind of adventure playground, where they operate appropriately modified recreational sports: With the help of the instrument that is misused for the launch tube, they try to point arrows on the target. Afterwards, it is important to play around the music mini golf in the form of rusty trombones.

On the other side of the fence, which separates the festival site from tent sites and supply facilities, brass bands keep passing. It is not uncommon for you to have a polonaise in the wake.

Only on the edge of the area is a little calmer. Here the festival hotel industry with Glamping huts called « Brass Vegas » or the Honeymoon suite « Wladiwoodstock » promises some peace. The residents recover from the hardships with an open door. Or you are preparing for the next highlights.

Cool crowd, zero politics

Nearby is the backstage area for the musicians around a sports home, where Bernhard Holl patiently waits for the late appearance of his formation « Wüdara Musi ». The 40 -year -old trombonist, composer and arranger has been part of the stem of the musicians with various bands since 2011. « Our beginnings were very modest, » he says. « But since then we have taken big steps.

Holl particularly praises the « positive vibe » and the « cool crowd » all over the festival site. In fact, visitors there seem to leave everyday life far behind to enjoy a few days in complete freedom. The official motto of the festival, which will increase again in 2025 in June, is « Love, Peace & Blasmusik ». However, two visitors from the Palatinate have modified the slogan on their baseball hats in « Sex, Drugs and Folk Music ».

The program of fans is similarly different. Some rush from performance to appear. Others prefer to cool off sparingly and armed with beer cans in the river. Third parties sit in front of their tents, where they have painted rats on signs. But in rural Upper Austria, even the female fans take this with an indifferent shrug.

Healthy lifestyle, body cult and other widespread phenomena of our times are also of minor importance in the Woodstock of Blasmusik: the audience consumes large amounts of beer with visible joy. The most popular snacks are sausages and roasts. And a quick look at the crowd confirms that body shaming is a foreign word here.

These aspects may contribute to the success of the festival. But maybe it is also because the event is completely apolitical. Neither founder Simon Ertl nor veteran Bernhard Holl can remember that the strong right -wing parties in the country have tried to exploit the traditional basic orientation for their purposes. And instead of rainbow flags, the flags of football clubs blow over the tent sites.

On the other hand, the feeling of community among the visitors is strong. As Ertl explains, many of them are musicians. The audience impressively proves this on the third day in the so -called overall game. Shortly before 1 p.m. there are about 20,000 women and men with their instruments in the brooding midday heat. Signs indicate the collective points for flutists, triangle players or trumpeter. When everyone is on site, under the guidance of a conductor, they tuned an earwig medley with extracts from Evergreens such as « Bohemian Dream » or « We Musicians ». An impressive spectacle that accompanies the fire brigade by ensuring cooling with water cannons.

The final Sunday begins with a well -attended ecumenical service that Austrian television broadcasts live. After that, the big hour of the children, who have given their own large concert since 2023. At the « overall game » in front of the main stage, they not only provide a lot of joy among the proud parents. At the same time, they are the living proof of the thesis that the future of brass music seems to be secure.